Help sought in fight to obtain rail safety records

Local planners reach out to Shea-Porter and Shaheen

NEWINGTON — The town's Planning Board is putting the heat on the Federal Railroad Administration to become an active participant in the ongoing debate over the proposed expansion of a Seacoast propane operation.

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By Joey Cresta

seacoastonline.com

By Joey Cresta

Posted Feb. 11, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Joey Cresta
Posted Feb. 11, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

NEWINGTON — The town's Planning Board is putting the heat on the Federal Railroad Administration to become an active participant in the ongoing debate over the proposed expansion of a Seacoast propane operation.

The planners agreed that the state's congressional delegation should become involved in the process by pushing the FRA to cooperate with requests to provide track inspection reports on branches of railroad that would carry propane to dealer Sea-3's facility on Shattuck Way.

In fact, Town Planner Tom Morgan said during Monday night's Planning Board meeting that process is already under way. He informed the board and the roughly 50 members of the public in attendance that he has been working with the staff of U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., on urging the FRA to release the information.

"They're preparing a letter to the FRA," Morgan said.

The requests for track inspection reports come in the context of Sea-3's proposal to make substantial upgrades to its facility. A subsidiary of Trammo Inc., Sea-3 wants to be able to off-load more domestic propane delivered by freight rail.

Numerous residents have raised concerns about the tracks leading to Sea-3, which are categorized as Class 1 and are limited to speeds of 10 mph. Cynthia Scarano, executive vice president of Pan Am Railways, revealed Monday night that Pan Am has capital improvement plans to upgrade the tracks to Class 2, which would allow for speeds of up to 25 mph.

Even so, she said, the company remains committed to limiting speeds to 10 mph.

Attempts by the town of Newington and the Portsmouth Herald to obtain the FRA's most recent inspection reports on the tracks have been unsuccessful. The Herald filed a Freedom of Information Act with the federal agency in December seeking the documents, but the FRA cited a "backlog" in FOIA requests in explaining the lack of a response thus far.

Scarano said Pan Am does not even have a copy of the inspection report, even though the report is relative to tracks the company owns.

"That's not our document," she said.

While Scarano said the FRA would be willing to weigh in on the issue via written correspondence to the town, Planning Board Chairman Denis Hebert said the town wants an official from the agency to attend a meeting in person to answer questions.

Hebert said the FRA had indicated it was willing to meet with the Planning Board in private, but he is unwilling to accept that offer.

Hebert said that if the town is unable to get necessary information on the condition of the tracks, the Planning Board may have no choice but to deny the Sea-3 plan on the grounds it is unsafe. The board needs to see the evidence from the FRA to consider approving the application, he said.

"We can't get the people or the information we need. That's what I'm hearing very clearly right now," he said.

Monday's meeting drew a large crowd of Portsmouth and Greenland residents. Among those in attendance were Portsmouth City Manager John Bohenko, Mayor Bob Lister, Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine and City Councilors Esther Kennedy, Jack Thorsen and Stefany Shaheen. State Sen. Martha Fuller Clark also was in attendance.

Hebert agreed with Lister's and Bohenko's sentiments that the safety of the region has to be the primary concern.

"Inspection of those tracks and the condition of those tracks is paramount to us," he said. "We really need to get the FRA involved in this."

Under state law, the Sea-3 application has reached a deadline for approval. Sea-3 voluntarily agreed to an extension to keep the project alive until the town receives the requested Federal Railroad Administration documents.